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A Startup’s First Steps: What’s In A Name?

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Let’s start with your name. Most new startups have a name in mind, or have even taken various steps to secure rights to the name, but some are on the fence or still developing a brand name when we first meet. ly or.to , deferring the expense of acquiring the coveted.com name until after a funding event.

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A Founder’s First Key Decision Is The Business Name

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First things first – your startup needs a name! The name of your business has a tremendous impact on how customers and investors view you, and in today’s small world, it’s a world-wide decision. Here are some key things I look for in the name, with some expert help from Alex Frankel and others: Unique and unforgettable.

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What are the downsides of communicating a key differentiation in your name?

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Think about how useful the name Tote.com would be for a shopping site developing a social-sharing universal shopping bag/cart. One reason is that because of rapidly changing nature of business, today’s competitive advantage can easily become tomorrow’s disadvantage…or at least irrelevancy. Pretty cool, huh?

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Set Your Online Reputation Before Someone Else Does

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This is simple in concept, but requires real effort and can be time consuming, and even expensive, if someone gets there before you and tries to sell you the rights to your preferred business or personal domain name. See my Forbes article on “ Get A Domain Name Without Bankrupting Your Startup ”. Professional directories.

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Nuts & Bolts of Intellectual Property for New Startups

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So you’ve chosen a name for your startup, product, or both. Trademarks , which we touched on last week, are brand and product names, graphic logos, slogans, taglines, and other indicators of origin of the goods or services in question. Hence this “Cliff’s Notes” refresher, to be followed by a discussion of why it matters.

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Survive the Term Sheet Negotiation and Investor Due Diligence Part 1

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While the name makes it seem preferable to common stock, preferred is not inherently better, it’s just different. That’s what you as a founder will have, which is why it’s also known as founders’ stock. There is a different kind of stock that investors can choose to purchase, called preferred stock. Here’s why.

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Intellectual Property for Startups in the Real World

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This could include anything from a clever domain name in the coveted.com TLD to issued patents or patent applications that could serve as barriers to entry for potential competitors. Starting with the first point, in general, IP assets of demonstrable value that are relevant to the startup’s business can only help when pitching investors.